Soldato
Separate current accounts and a joint one for bills.
Married Couples : Finances Split or Combined?
- Thread starter Rifte
- Start date
Soldato
Like some others here we get quite different wages - I'm fortunate enough to earn twice what she does. Both our salaries go into a joint account - we make an allowance for all the direct debits and standing orders due to come out and then divide the remainder in half and send it to our own individual accounts. It feels more equal that way, and both of us can still have relative independence over our own spending without the other scrutinising anything.
Soldato
Married (4ish years) with 2 kids.
We each have personal current/savings accounts and credit cards, but also joint current/savings accounts for bills, mortgage, house things etc. Currently I'm paying the majority into the joint because my wife is on maternity, so she is just contributing (financially) her maternity pay, which equates to about 30%. When she goes back to work, it'll be 50/50 again. Seems to work for us. We'd probably have no issue operating completely joint but no point changing while it works fine, considering all the hassle involved.
We each have personal current/savings accounts and credit cards, but also joint current/savings accounts for bills, mortgage, house things etc. Currently I'm paying the majority into the joint because my wife is on maternity, so she is just contributing (financially) her maternity pay, which equates to about 30%. When she goes back to work, it'll be 50/50 again. Seems to work for us. We'd probably have no issue operating completely joint but no point changing while it works fine, considering all the hassle involved.
Associate
First marriage had a joint account that received both our salaries - this arrangement worked fine for about 4 years, but it soon got closed after she spent the lot on rubbish (about £1,300 worth in 10 days) without paying attention to the impending mortgage payment - the one and only time I've had a mortgage payment bounce
Second marriage, both with our fingers burned previously, salaries to our individual accounts and an account in my name for paying all the joint bills - we both had SOs to fund it. She was rubbish with money and was happy for me to deal with all the bills - she used to find it quite stressful and oppressive
The issue with joint accounts is they only work if you both take responsibility for them. Also, you can't close them down or stop a partner spending on them without their permission
Second marriage, both with our fingers burned previously, salaries to our individual accounts and an account in my name for paying all the joint bills - we both had SOs to fund it. She was rubbish with money and was happy for me to deal with all the bills - she used to find it quite stressful and oppressive
The issue with joint accounts is they only work if you both take responsibility for them. Also, you can't close them down or stop a partner spending on them without their permission
My pa
My partner and I get around this by setting ourselves the same amount of 'disposable' income each month. Everything else gets paid into a joint account which we use for bills/mortgage/food/holidays.
I guess technically you could argue that we're combining our finances and just giving ourselves an allowance each, but at least this way we have the illusion of maintaining financial independence!
My partner and I get around this by setting ourselves the same amount of 'disposable' income each month. Everything else gets paid into a joint account which we use for bills/mortgage/food/holidays.
I guess technically you could argue that we're combining our finances and just giving ourselves an allowance each, but at least this way we have the illusion of maintaining financial independence!
Caporegime
All the bills (mortgage, utilities, council tax, etc) come out of my account, my wife tends to buy the groceries. Seems about right given the earnings split.
Not got anything against moving to a joint account per-say, just not sure I can be bothered to actually action it.
Not got anything against moving to a joint account per-say, just not sure I can be bothered to actually action it.
Large lump sum into joint accoutn which covers insurance, mortgage, food, bills, holidays, house purchases plus surplus each month.
Then what me and my partner have left each is ours to do what we want. I spend mine on computers and camera stuff, she has five horses.
(btw she earns £30k+ more than I do so a joint pot for all our money would be a good thing for me except I might then feel bad and feel i have to justify buying a TitanXP or a new camera whereas now I don't)
Then what me and my partner have left each is ours to do what we want. I spend mine on computers and camera stuff, she has five horses.
(btw she earns £30k+ more than I do so a joint pot for all our money would be a good thing for me except I might then feel bad and feel i have to justify buying a TitanXP or a new camera whereas now I don't)
Associate
Soldato
Same here! I don't want her to pay for my car or my toys, I spent a lot more on those things than she does and that's great, she has her own hobbies and she does what she wants with her money. We again, pay in equal amount each month that covers all of our bills, food etc. Personal stuff is personal.
She knows what I earn, I know what she earns but I don't want to have the guilt of spending say, 600 on a new set of tyres.
She has her own hobbies and she's able to cover them with her wages. If I was to earn MUCH more than her I'd probably chip in a bit more so she can afford a better lifestyle but that totally depends on how much I'm earning and what I'm doing with the money.
Payments can be made between bank accounts pretty much instantly these days, which obviates the need for a joint account IMHO. Having said that, we earn about the same, split household costs down the middle and have similar financial outlooks, so it's never really been an issue. In terms of the nuts and bolts - the mortgage is paid from my account. She pays most of the other routine expenses, plus a regular standing payment into my account to cover the difference. Any large expenses we deal with on an ad-hoc basis, but we're both fair-minded people, so keep outgoings fairly even. Anything we each earn above and beyond is ours to do with as we please.
Associate
we have 3 lloyds vantage accounts in joint names, a savings account in join names, 2 isa accounts one each and i have an old midland account from before i met the wife, thats used for share trading.
all money goes into the first vantage account, then is split from there into the others for various bills/ benefits etc.
I dont check what she spends, as far as i know she doesnt check what I spend. As long as the bills are paid it doesnt matter.
all money goes into the first vantage account, then is split from there into the others for various bills/ benefits etc.
I dont check what she spends, as far as i know she doesnt check what I spend. As long as the bills are paid it doesnt matter.
Soldato
Pretty much since we moved in together - 1 account, all money goes into that. The card/chequebook to access that account never leaves the house. We can both see the joint account from bank apps/online/etc and move money as needed.
We each have a separate account, an equal monthly allowance is paid into it, we spend that as we like and it's "invisible" to the other. It's purely "beer money" too (& entertainment, toys and clothes). Most regular stuff like gym memberships etc are on the main account (as well as stuff most would expect like food shopping, bills/etc).
Then a joint credit card, we sit down once a month and go through it see who "owes" what on the CC (and what belongs "on the house") and settle up from our personal spends.
It's been bullet-proof from day 1. Unless you have one side wanting to spend silly money on personal stuff there's no issue. If you have got a "spender" between you, I'd say that was more the issue than how accounts are set up.
It's made sure we have a fair abundance of cash available for things like insurance, furniture, house improvements, holidays etc.
We each have a separate account, an equal monthly allowance is paid into it, we spend that as we like and it's "invisible" to the other. It's purely "beer money" too (& entertainment, toys and clothes). Most regular stuff like gym memberships etc are on the main account (as well as stuff most would expect like food shopping, bills/etc).
Then a joint credit card, we sit down once a month and go through it see who "owes" what on the CC (and what belongs "on the house") and settle up from our personal spends.
It's been bullet-proof from day 1. Unless you have one side wanting to spend silly money on personal stuff there's no issue. If you have got a "spender" between you, I'd say that was more the issue than how accounts are set up.
It's made sure we have a fair abundance of cash available for things like insurance, furniture, house improvements, holidays etc.
Associate
Both have our separate accounts and then a joint account that we both put money into every month for mortgage, bills etc...
We both like to have our own finances that way she's knows i won't go mental when she spends £500 on a coat and she won't go mental when i drop £500 on a graphics card.
We both like to have our own finances that way she's knows i won't go mental when she spends £500 on a coat and she won't go mental when i drop £500 on a graphics card.
Associate
I earn more than the missus due to her working part time to look after the kids. I pay for all the household items, which means that we have approximately the same disposable income by the end of the month anyway.
Therefore there is no need for a joint account as there is no benefit.
Therefore there is no need for a joint account as there is no benefit.
Interesting to see the variety of responses on here and reasoning behind them. I am curious about those who maintain separate accounts leaving some joint responsibility for bills but otherwise their and your money - if your wife was to leave work in future to look after kids for a while would you then pay her an allowance as well as covering all the bills so she still gets to maintain 'her' money - or does she then use savings for disposable income. If an allowance then is it equal to half your left over salary (after bills) - in that case does this equate to a pay rise? Or do you pay the amount she'd have been putting aside herself when in work?
Soldato
We've had these threads sooo many times. Just do what works for you. I find posts like that of the OP interesting as it seems they seem to think that people who don't have a joint account have 'trust' issues. To be honest it comes across as the opposite, if your bank account is so integral to your perceived state of your relationship then maybe you are the one with the issues. 
Anyway, this is what works for us logistically:
Joint account: We put an amount here to cover bills, food, holidays etc
Personal accounts: We spend what we like from these.
The reason we like it this way? It's *far* easier to spot anything untowards happening. I can sit on my train journey on my Santander app and look at my monthly statement and know exactly what every transaction is, without having to waste 'home' time going through purchases asking "Do you know what this is darling?". I would find that an insufferable waste of time. Do people with joint account not bother checking statements or something?
Anyway, this is what works for us logistically:
Joint account: We put an amount here to cover bills, food, holidays etc
Personal accounts: We spend what we like from these.
The reason we like it this way? It's *far* easier to spot anything untowards happening. I can sit on my train journey on my Santander app and look at my monthly statement and know exactly what every transaction is, without having to waste 'home' time going through purchases asking "Do you know what this is darling?". I would find that an insufferable waste of time. Do people with joint account not bother checking statements or something?
Soldato
When we had kids my partner took a total of about 2 years off with maternity, because most of our outgoings (mortgage, bills (including her mobile), food, stuff for kids, holidays) comes out of the joint account I just transferred her a few hundred quid a month which covered her personal stuff, to be honest looking after kids you tend to spend more money on them than yourself! If she had needed extra I would have just transferred more, she would have asked. It was never an issue though.
I haven't thought about it much, but I guess give her half my salary and continue to split costs as before (which would be the same as me paying all the bills and giving her half the remainder, except that we wouldn't have to mess about changing payment details for bills in her name). In our circumstances, given that the household income would have just halved, I wouldn't be messing about trying to work out what a uneven, but still 'fair' split would be - neither of us would have much room for unecessary personal expenses for a while anyway!